Burial Testimonials

Patron saints for the blind: Raphael, Lucy and Odilia of Alsace

Blindness affects many people around the world. Blind people, however, are just as capable as anyone else. Faith is an important factor for the blind. Faith helps guide them where they cannot see. Faith protects them from the dangers they do not see coming. Faith helps them achieve greatness as anyone else does. Faith in God and the saints helps blind people see in their minds and souls. Blindness should not prevent you from living a fulfilling life. Blindness should strengthen you to face life’s challenges. The patron saints of faith help blind people face these challenges. Lucy, Raphael, and Odilia are the patron saints for the blind.

Saint Lucy was Christian martyr who lived between 283 and 304. She was from Syracuse and died during the Diocletian persecutions of 304 AD. Her feast day is on 31 December. The Latin form of Lucy is Lucia; Lucia is associated with light in Latin. For this reason, Saint Lucy is the patron saint of the blind and those with eye troubles. Her iconography shows her holding eyes on a plate and this indicates that she is the protector of sight. Raphael is one of only three angels named in the Bible. Raphael appears in the story of Tobit as an angel sent by God to Tobit. Raphael healed Tobit’s blindness.

He is known as the healer among angels. The memorial of Raphael is held together with that of Archangels Michael and Gabriel on 29 September. Faith in Saint Raphael increases healing on the part of those who have eyesight problems. For those who are blind, faith in Raphael can bring forth clarity of the mind. Raphael is the healer and can heal your blindness. Although not a patron of the blind, Odilia represents what every person with eye troubles could have. She is the patron saint of good eyesight. Odilia was born blind. Her father rejected her and left her to be raised by peasants. When she was twelve, she was baptized, upon which she recovered her eyesight. She went on to establish a monastery in her hometown, which included a hospital. Long after the monastery was destroyed, it is said that water from the monastery’s well heals eyesight. We celebrate her on 13 December.

Faith in these saints provides healing, guidance and comfort to those afflicted by eyesight problems. Your blindness could be difficult but it does not have to be. Pray to Lucy, Raphael and Odilia for guidance and clarity.

T. Oder (St-Writer)